”Where are we gonna have lunch again?” I asked my seatmate for nth time. The dragon in my stomach was already rumbling, ready to breathe fire at a moment’s notice. ”We’re having it at the VES food resorts,” he replied. What I heard him say though was that we’re gonna be having our lunch at the best food resort.

The best food resort! My goodness, my dragon cannot be happier.

VES FOOD RESORTS AND VILLAS IN TARLAC

But it was a case of mispronunciation. It turned out we were having it at the V.E.S. Food Resorts and Villas. I thought we’d be going to a resort full of best dishes, so my enthusiasm somewhat diminished as I entered the airy hall of the resort. But that was before I saw what’s on the buffet table.

CRISPY NILASING NA HIPON

Nilasing na hipon, seafood kare-kare, stuffed squid, pako seafood salad and kalderetang ostrich. Kalderetang ostrich!? Everyone was taken aback at that last one. ”Don’t worry,” the resort staff calmly assuaged us, ”it is quite good!” I thought that was it before I heard a chopping sound. A very familiar chopping sound. Lechon!

POOL AREA

V.E.S. Food Resorts and Villas started serving exotic Filipino dishes in early 1994. And as its name suggests, they have since branched out, offering catering services and opening villas, complete with swimming pools, right across the restaurant.

SEAFOOD KARE KARE

Plates soon started to clink and clatter and before I knew it, everyone’s already lined up for the feast. I’m really looking forward to the crispy side of the meals—I have my eyes trained on that bowl of nilasing na hipon and lechon skin.

The ostrich? Err, not really so much.

CRISPY PORK LECHON

As expected, both dishes won me over. Both were crispy and prepared just right. Surprisingly, I also loved VES’s pako salad, I really don’t eat pako, but this one’s good. The seafood kare-kare was also a winner for me, it was just too bad that I was too full to eat a few more servings.

KALDERETANG OSTRICH

Not to be a killjoy foodie, I also tried a portion of their kalderetang ostrich. It somehow makes me think of eating kangaroo steak, and to be honest, it was alright. The meat is similar to beef. But that’s about it, I’m not particularly fond of tomato-based dishes.

STUFFED SQUID

The stuffed squid, which looks really appetizing on the buffet tray, was also a let-down. It might be that I was unlucky to get portions that were too hardy. The squid meat was just too rubbery, it was a task to eat. But everything’s not lost. Besides the squid, everything else was excellent.

BUFFET AT VES FOOD RESORTS

It was a very enjoyable first Tarlac meal at V.E.S. Food Resorts and Villas. And that mispronunciation of V.E.S. to best? Well, one can say that it could’ve been intentional, and I wouldn’t blame anyone for it.